A Remote Spot in Upstate New York | Monday Afternoon

The plan was a little complicated, and it barely held together, but it was the best one they had.

Annie, Diego, Danny, Steve, and Butcher and his associates all piled into three cars to make the trip upstate, towards where Becca had told them that Homelander had probably gone with Ryan. Butcher and Becca had gone first to plant the speakers in the woods, where they would affect only someone with super-hearing -- like Homelander, and the boy they were up here to rescue.

Meanwhile, Annie had spent the drive watching her phone as news alert after news alert had poured in about Stormfront. And not just the news, but the memes. So many cartoons of her goose-stepping. So many photos of Stormfront with big, white Impact text over them. So many hashtags.

Annie was pleased as punch, even if she knew there would definitely be consequences for this.

When they arrived at the rendezvous point, it was actually a little quiet for awhile. Butcher and Becca were off in their car, getting Ryan away from his father, and the rest of them were left waiting for now.

( And then everything went totally according to plan! No? )

( in which Girls Get It Done )

( But, of course, everything is fine with Danny, Steve and the Butcher family, right? )

( and then (almost) everyone lived happily ever after! )

[AND THAT'S A WRAP. preplayed with knife_bender, hatesparadise, and grenadesandohana, warning for character death and a different character's dismemberment and blinding, NFB/NFI/OOC welcome, and thank you all for coming on this utterly nutso ride with me the last couple months. HURRY UP, SEASON 3, I'M GONNA ADAPT YOU TOO.]

Vought Tower | Monday Evening

The only reason Homelander -- and Stan Edgar, Vought's CEO -- was audible over the din of the press conference was because he had the only microphone. The reporters gathered were clamoring for follow-up questions, with cameras going off incessantly.

"Thanks to the heroism of Queen Maeve and Starlight, Stormfront has been neutralized, and is being held in an undisclosed location." If you didn't know Homelander, you might take his tone at this press conference for somber; Starlight, however, was well aware that what she was looking at was much closer to barely-contained fury.

But the important thing was that it was contained.

( in which there are apologies and negotiations )

[just a little epilogue thing omg. totally open for calls/texts/boyfriend who is there, if you'd like to catch her between her press conference and meetings, now that she has a pocket again. Happy ever after, right there.]